Thread by @HugoGye

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi tells Commons that immunosuppressed children aged 12+, plus those with neurodisabilities and severe learning disabilities, will be offered covid jabs. Most other teenagers will not get the vaccine for now.

Children 12+ who live with someone who is immunosuppressed (but not other clinically extremely vulnerable people) will also get a vaccine, as will anyone who is within 3mths of their 18th birthday.

Zahawi on prospect of vaxxing all teens: "Although we are not taking this step today, the JCVI is keeping this under review and they will be looking at more data as it becomes available."

JCVI decision was based on risk-benefit analysis to the children themselves, not on considerations of vaccine supply available to UK or rest of the world.

Full story @theipaper: inews.co.uk/news/politics/…

@theipaper Many people wanted to see children vaccinated to help the UK get closer to the herd immunity threshold. JCVI says there is insufficient data on the effects of jabs on transmission to make this a viable strategy.

@theipaper Bernard Jenkin asks Zahawi why the daily vaccine count has slumped and suggests incentivising people to get jabbed.

Minister: "We are doing everything we can to make sure that every cohort, every ethnicity has the ability to access the vaccine."

@theipaper Mark Harper is trying to persuade govt to recall Parliament in August to update MPs on the covid response and plans to change self-isolation rules...